Sunday, February 17, 2008

Can I get a miserable Sunday on the rocks please?

4am- I awak because I hear the cat is about to puke. The cat is on the bed by my head. He either is going to puke into my face or onto the clothes that fell off of me as I stumbled to bed. Being half asleep, I just push him off the cliff and hope he makes it into the hallway where floor is hardwood. Of course he stops short. I lunge out of bed and push him into the hallway. Lunge as in fall out as quickly as I can that is. He pukes and I go to get the paper towel. Now I cannot find the puke. I stare at the furnace vent hoping he didn't puke into it. Just before I step in it, my eyes pick it up. Looks like stomach juice, just water, no food or anything solid. Guess he will be hungry soon.

8am- Now I am awaken by the sound of my neighboor chopping ice. Ok, when I was up earlier, I took a look outside to see if it had snow yet. We are expecting around 8-10 inches (at least that was as of Friday night. This is expected to start Sunday afternoon. So why is my neighbor chopping ice? I go make some coffee and notice it is raining outside. Nice. I notice the lake forming at the bottom of my drive. It is 35 degrees out and the rain is helping to melt the ice to form this future hockey rink. Must remember to get the hockey stick out of the garage.

8:30am- Finally take a look at weather forecast. Rain all day, turning to snow and then the temps plummet. I throw the pucks into the freezer. Looks like the game is on for later. I also throw a chuck roast into a Dutch oven to let it cook all day. If I am going to be stuck in the house, I want something good to eat later. I also do some further checking on the weather and find the Weather Service's warning:

Today: Periods of rain, freezing rain and sleet before noon, then periods of rain and snow. Some thunder is also possible. Areas of fog. High near 35. East wind 10 to 15 mph becoming north. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime ice accumulation of around a 0.1 of an inch possible. Total daytime snow and sleet accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Tonight: Periods of snow with areas of blowing snow, mainly before midnight. Low around 18. Windy, with a north wind between 20 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Yeah, a half inch of ice by end of day, but possibly only a little bit of snow. Not sure which one is better. Time for coffee and the paper. I think I will skip the Obama ass kissing stories that have been going on for the last week. Before I go, I wonder why the spell check function doesn't seem to work on Blogger anymore.

11am- Just finished playing some poker. Was on the losing end mainly because someone got lucky on the river. They were behind all the way just to get lucky. So it goes. I noticed a car stuck in the alley outside. Looks like some people are helping get the car loose. The real problem is not the icy conditions out there, it is the fact these people do not shovel out the parking area nor do they clean the alley right behind them. Thus all the compacted snow is now high ruts and slippery. Getting stuck today isn't a surprise. The car is just spinning its tires. Sure they got it straightened out but they still can't move far. It has been at least 20 minutes for them. They now have half of the car in the street, but the front is still in the alley on a rut. As much as they try to rock this car back and forth it will do them no good. They don't have enough area to work with. They need some boards under the front tire. If it takes another 10 minutes, I may go grab some wood out of the garage and help.

11:19am- Car is free!!! They managed to get themselves stuck in the snow bank on the way out so that was part of the problem. Of course, when they gave it the freedom push, one of them fell flat on their ass. I feel bad because I am laughing. Time for her to go change her jeans and dry up.

12:10pm- I go outside to survey the damage. It isn't all that bad, but it isn't that good either. Half of my sidewalk is icy. The end of my driveway will be all ice in 12 hours. Some people at the end of the block are trying to dig out the sewer drain. I look at the one by my house and decide it is fruitless to try and dig out. I decide to go back inside, straighten some things out and eat. A ham and cheese omelet sounds pretty good and I get to cooking. But omelete disaster strikes! As I go for the flip I don't get the pan underneath quick enough and I lose a quarter of the omelet to the floor. I miss maybe 1 of 5 when flipping. Guess this was #5. I clean up the floor and sit down to eat. What to watch? Either the Daytona 500 or the Smashing Machine. I go with the Smashing Machine.

1:08pm- So much for the Smashing Machine. The disc from Netflix is cracked.

2:48pm- Just got finished playing cards. Did well. Happy to cover the early loss and get to the plus side for the day. Right now it is 43 degrees in Milwaukee and it isn't raining. Looks like it may not get as cold as they thought tonight. It will get into the mid 20s, not the teens. Yeah all the water will still turn to ice but it may not be that bad. I am hoping it won't snow as the 3-5 inches they now forecast. Even if it does, I may be better off letting it cover any ice that will be on the ground. The salt I was able to get from my Dad will be used up tomorrow. My guess is that after shoveling, I will want to salt the sidewalks like it is one big pretzel. I have the Daytona 500 on in the background. I recall the good days of going up to the bar to watch this race. It wasn't as much about the race as it was a good time to drink.

5:20pm- I notice the snow is beginning to fall. I am hoping it will mix in with the puddles and slush up. If that happens, I can get out and move the slush in a couple of hours. It would be so much nicer if somehow it justs stays warm and wet. Brewers spring training is open. I feel a bit warmer knowing that. This just in: the Championship Pole Vaulting Camp in Waukesha has been cancelled. I have also received a number of calls today from phone numbers I do not recognize. I am one of those people that rarely answers the phone when I do not know who is calling. On the third one, curiousity got the best of me. Turns out to be an Obama supporter drumming up some votes. Sorry, StB will not be supporting him on Tuesday. I am not in favor of higher taxes and more government spending. From what I have read and understood, Obama's plan to raise taxes will hurt the middle class, not help them. The United States is experiencing record revenues as a result of the Bush tax cuts. Why would you want to stop that? Raising taxes would not translate to higher revenue. This is a lesson that was learned in the Clinton years.

6:08pm- Now they are saying the snow accumulation will be less than an inch. That is a bit of a relief. However all that standing water will become ice (duh!). I don't know if I will attempt to move any slush tonight. I may just let it be until tomorrow. I intend to get salt on the way home from work since apparently stores have it again. A good slathering of salt on the sidewalk should help keep things in check. Another freeze is in the forecast for the middle of the week.